I took Revlimid as part of Revlimid, Velcade, and dexamethasone (RVD) induction and consolidation therapy before and after my stem cell transplant (SCT) in May 2013. I also have been taking it alone since September 2013 for maintenance therapy, except for a 2-month break during that time. I'll only talk about what I've experienced during maintenance therapy because it's so hard to separate out the effects of the other drugs during the earlier phases, as Nancy mentioned for herself.
I began at a 10 mg / day dose, then that was upped to 15 mg / day after I did well with the 10 mg dose for a few months. Then after about 6 more months it was dropped back down to 10 mg / day. Then after another year or so, it was stopped for a couple of months. A couple months ago I started again on 5 mg / day with 3 weeks on and 1 week off per cycle. Previous doses had been everyday, no off week.
At various times I've had the following side effects:
- Low white blood cell count (reduced dose from 15 mg to 10 mg to deal with this)
- Low platelet count (got Neupogen shots when this count was extra low)
- Diarrhea (Imodium handled this, for the most part)
- Muscle cramps in legs and hands (drank mixture of equal parts vinegar and water to loosen cramps; tastes so bad you forget about the cramps
) - Slowed heart rate, which led to several fainting or near-fainting events (stopped Revlimid for a couple of months and then started it again but at the reduced dose of 5 mg / day 3 weeks on / 1 week off, and that seems to be helping)
Mike
